With a diverse professional background spanning from performing arts to working in veterinary clinics, Educational Assistant Mx. Orlando Kassing begins the next step of their professional journey as they take on their first year in education. 

Shortly after graduating from University of Washington with a degree in theater performance, the COVID-19 pandemic put Mx. Kassing’s career on hold. They had to pivot from live theater, eventually landing a job at the City of Austin where they worked as Inclusion Support for an art camp. This experience led them to shift their focus from theater education to supporting special needs students.

“I’m really passionate about disability justice,” Mx. Kassing said. “I’m disabled myself [and] I felt like I wanted to give back to other people who are disabled. So that led me into special education.”

As an Educational Assistant, Mx. Kassing is focused on helping individual students as inclusion support in their classes. Mx. Kassing’s passion for working as an Educational Assistant stems from wanting to give students a safe, comfortable, and conducive learning environment. 

“[When] I realized I was more interested in working with those kids who just need that extra support in the classrooms, that felt more like my niche than actually teaching,” Mx. Kassing said.

As a first-year educator, Mx. Kassing is looking forward to developing their individual style of teaching and engaging with students.

 “I think my goals are to find how I interact with my students in my own unique way,” Mx. Kassing said. “Being so new to education, I don’t really have a lot of experience or know what my place is in the classroom yet. So this year I’m excited about finding my style of interacting with students.”

“I was very nervous to teach at a high school, [and] I came fully prepared to be judged or not feel respected but it’s just been great. Everybody is so kind and so unique,” Mx. Kassing said.

Mx. Kassing hopes to engage with the Westwood community by participating in school wide events and exploring all that campus has to offer.

“I feel like there are so many extracurriculars that I didn’t even realize [existed] so I’m excited to attend events and extracurriculars and just get to know what students here are doing in their time outside of school,” Mx. Kassing said.

Mx .Kassing is committed to creating an inclusive environment and spreading positivity throughout Westwood. 

“The best part has got to be the kids, [and] it’s been really great to [get to] know everybody,” Mx. Kassing said.